Million Pound Startup competition launches to attract worldwide companies to London

The Million Pound Startup competition – a global competition to bring tech companies to London’s
Tech City – has launched today.

The competition aims to attract high-growth
technology companies to the capital. The winner will receive £1m equity investment to build its
company in London.

In addition to the investment, the winning company will also receive support and assistance from
a series of partners including KPMG, the Mayor of London, the Tech City Investment Organisation
(TCIO), Taylor Wessing, Seedrs, City University London, London & Partners, London First,
Schools for Start-ups and Ketchum.

The competition is facilitated by Digital Shoreditch
and while it is open to any company around the world, the winning company must relocate to
London in order to receive the £1m.

The £1m prize is sourced from angel funding, venture capitalists and equity crowd-funding.
Applicants will have to show that they will use the £1m equity investment to build a £100m company
based in London.

The investment process will conclude towards the end of the year and as it proceeds, candidates
will be gradually reduced and there will be a pitching process, which at the end one organisation
will receive £1m.

“We believe that by 2020, the technology sector will look substantially different to
today. There will be a new group of world-beating companies, many more of which will have
started and grown in the UK. The UK will have cemented its place as one of the key centres of
technology, innovation, attracting funding talent and interest from around the world,” said Tim
Kay, head of KPMG’s High Growth
Technology Group based in Tech City.

While KPMG is not providing any of the monetary prize, the organisation is partnering with the
competition to provide mentoring and support throughout the process.

“What we’ve effectively said is that we might do a dry run before pitch days with the final 50.
We will give feedback, run sessions and seminars as part of this process, not just for the winner,”
said Kay.

To qualify for the competition startups much have been trading for fewer than 10 years and be
turning over less than £1m per year.

A report written by senior executives at Tech City states that there is a lack of funding
causing companies to miss out on business opportunities and preventing growth. Additionally,
one-fifth of Tech City businesses said that they had to make people redundant because they were
unable to secure funding.

Alastair Paterson, chief executive of tech startup Digital
Shadows, said: “I think where we’ve got to work and develop is the next stage, so once
you’ve had your seed investment, there isn’t a huge amount of funding still in the UK compared with
the US. That's why you see companies heading over to the US to get their funding. We’re coming to
that crossroads right now and we're just assessing where the best place to take the money from
is."

However, the Million Pound Startup competition has broad application requirements in order to
include later stage companies to compete for the equity.

“One of the things we’re keen to promote are investment opportunities for second stage
companies,” said Kay. “This is why the boundaries are wide.

"If you’re a very early stage startup, this capital will be useful for letting you bring on
experienced developers to build a robust product. But also for companies slightly down the
development path who need capital for overseas expansion and hiring robust sales staff. That level
of investment can help a lot of companies in different ways.

“A lot of schemes and investments are aimed purely at the early stage investment, but this is
trying to cast the net slightly wider,” Kay said.

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